Category: UFC / MMA

Watch highlights from Billy Joe Saunders unanimous points victory over Martin Murray on DAZN

MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn interviewed Geoff Neal ahead of UFC Fight Night 183 in Las Vegas.

Billy Joe Saunders and Martin Murray hit the scales prior to their December 4th showdown on DAZN.

UFC Vegas 16 headliners Jack Hermansson and Marvin Vettori, along with the rest of the fight card, faced off following Friday’s weigh-in at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

(Subscribe to MMAWeekly.com on YouTube)

TRENDING > UFC Vegas 16 weigh-in results: Hermansson vs. Vettori official, but Saint Preux misses weight

UFC Vegas 16: Hermansson vs. Vettori full weigh-in video

(Subscribe to MMAWeekly.com on YouTube)

UFC on ESPN 19: Full card fighter faceoffs.

Could a Evander Holyfield Mike Tyson trilogy really happen at this stage in their lives? If so, who would come out on top this time?

Like the entirety of 2020, there was no shortage of bumps along the way, but UFC Vegas 16 became official following Friday’s weigh-in.

The vast majority of fighters weighed in within the first 20 minutes of so of the two-hour weigh-in window. Main eventers Jack Hermansson and Marvin Vettori wasted little time as they hit the scale at 185.5 and 186 pounds respectively.

The UFC Vegas 16 middleweight main event was a last-minute match-up after Hermansson’s original opponent, Kevin Holland, was removed from the bout after testing positive for COVID-19 just days ago.

Vettori had been slated to face Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza at UFC 256 on Dec. 12. With Holland out, however, he agreed to a basic swap of opponents. Vettori now faces Hermansson on Saturday, while Holland, pending medical clearance, will face Jacare at UFC 256.

Ovince Saint Preux misses weight for the first time

Ovince Saint Preux was quick to the scale on Friday, which is usually an indicator that everything is going well, but that wasn’t the case for him.

For the first time in his nearly eight-year UFC tenure, Saint Preux failed to make weight. He stepped on the scale at 207.5 pounds for his UFC Vegas 16 light heavyweight co-main event bout opposite Jamahal Hill.

Shortly after the weigh-in, UFC officials confirmed that the Saint Preux vs. Hill bout would still move forward. Saint Preux will forfeit 20-percent of his fight purse to Hill.

UFC Vegas 16: Hermansson vs. Vettori Live Results

UFC Vegas 16: Hermansson vs. Vettori weigh-in results

UFC Vegas 16 Main Card (10 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN+)

Main Event: Jack Hermansson (185.5) vs Marvin Vettori (186)Co-Main Event: Ovince Saint Preux (207.5)* vs Jamahal Hill (205.5)Gabriel Benitez (155.5) vs Justin Jaynes (156)Montana De La Rosa (125.75) vs Taila Santos (125.5)Roman Dolidze (205) vs John Allan (205)Nate Landwehr (145.5) vs Movsar Evloev (145.5)

UFC Vegas 16 Preliminary Card (7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN+)

Louis Smolka (134.5) vs Jose Quinonez (135)Matt Wiman (155.5) vs Jordan Leavitt (155.5)Jimmy Flick (125.5) vs Cody Durden (125.5)Ilia Topuria (145) vs Damon Jackson (145)Gian Villante (243) vs Jake Collier (264.5)

*Saint Preux missed weight

UFC Vegas 16: Hermansson vs. Vettori full weigh-in video

(Subscribe to MMAWeekly.com on YouTube)

Good luck with that.

A few months ago, footage of Nick Diaz training for a UFC comeback surfaced on social media. His manager, Kevin Mubenga, insisted that Diaz was aiming to make a comeback.

Several months into Diaz’s training, in recent comments to Fanatics View, Mubenga once again reiterated that Diaz will be back in the Octagon in 2021.

“The guy has been training. He’s been training for at least four months now,” said Mubenga.

“He took a little break (in November) and now we’re going to pick it back up in December and go into the new year hopefully with a new deal done. Make sure the money is right and the opponent is right and we’ll be able to move forward with all of this.”

The last time Diaz set foot in the Octagon was opposite Anderson Silva in the UFC 183 main event in January of 2015. Silva initially won the bout, but the results was later changed to a no contest after Silva tested positive for steroids and Diaz tested positive for marijuana.

He has since been watching from the outside looking in, while many fans of his and brother Nate have been clamoring for his return.

Nate hasn’t been much more active than his older brother, having fought just four times over the five-year span since Nick faced Silva. Nate did, however, fight two times in the latter half of 2019.

UFC president Dana White has been skeptical of Nick’s return, but considering that he has such a strong fan base, he would surely welcome it.

The UFC and the Diaz brothers coming to terms has always been a struggle, however, and that is certainly something that could hinder a Nick Diaz return in 2021. Mubenga believes there is little chance of that, though, believing there is a 99.99 percent chance that Diaz fights next year.

“We just got to get everything else right with the organization and everything. We’ll be able to move forward.”

TRENDING > Khabib has no interest in fighting Conor McGregor again, reveals new fight promotion

Trending Video: YouTuber Jake Paul believes fight with Conor McGregor will happen

(Subscribe to MMAWeekly.com on YouTube)

Billy Joe Saunders and Martin Murray preview their December 4th showdown on DAZN.

Billy Joe Saunders and Martin Murray hit the scales prior to their December 4th showdown on DAZN.

Unbeaten WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade discusses who he would ideally want to fight next between Canelo, GGG, Charlo and Billy Joe Saunders and if they are too scared to face him.

Can Oscar De La Hoya get back in the ring and take on an opponent like GGG?

Check out the MMA Junkie’s Dan Tom’s analysis and predictions for the UFC on ESPN 19 main event between Jack Hermansson and Marvin Vettori.

The UFC’s final event of a pandemic plagued 2020 could not go unscathed by COVID-19. Leon Edwards and his UFC Vegas 17 headlining bout opposite Khamzat Chimaev became the latest casualties of a trying year.

Edwards contracted COVID-19, which negated his ability to train for the fight and resulted in him losing 12 pounds over four days. He was subsequently removed from the UFC Vegas 17 main event, which the fight promotion hopes to reschedule in early 2021, possibly as soon as January.

While readily identifying the fight’s postponement as a hit to him, Edwards was quick to acknowledge that things could have been much worse for him, and things are much worse for many other people.

“Another setback, but when you come from the mud you learn to put everything in perspective. This virus has affected many lives and families much worse than mine. Looking forward to getting this rebooked soon, thank you all for the well wishes.”Leon Edwards on Twitter

https://twitter.com/Leon_edwardsmma/status/1334162543263305729?s=20

The UFC updated its website on Wednesday showing a welterweight bout between Stephen Thompson and Geoff Neal elevated to the UFC Vegas 17 headlining spot. The bout was already slated for the UFC Vegas 17 fight card.

TRENDING > Khabib has no interest in fighting Conor McGregor again, reveals new fight promotion

Trending Video > Mike Tyson: UFC was kicking Boxing’s Butt

(Subscribe to MMAWeekly.com on YouTube)